TOWIE star Bobby Norris has said the show is "going so downhill" following reports of recent ratings woes.
Norris quit the glossy ITVBe reality show back in 2021, after being a mainstay on the show for nearly a decade. Iconic TOWIE stars Gemma Collins, Megan McKenna and Pete Wicks are among the other notable cast members to have quit in recent years.
According to The Sun, TOWIE has fallen from a series high of around 1.5 million viewers to just 48,000 watching the most recent season live on telly.
ITV has countered that TOWIE continues to attract over 400,000 viewers when live TV and streaming figures are consolidated. New episodes now premiere on ITVX before their linear transmission, which impacts the TV viewing figures.
Former TOWIE star Norris addressed the show's alleged ratings slump on his Access All Areas show, where he questioned whether it was time to rest the ITVBe format.
"I never bashed the show. I loved my time on the show… I was a little bit sad, because in my day there… in the heyday… we used to get between 1.5 million and 2 million [viewers] an episode," he said. "So when I saw 48,000 viewers, even though I'm not there, it's sad. I kinda think the legacy is kind of going so downhill now."
What to Read Next
Related: Best streaming services 2024 — including Disney Plus, Netflix, iPlayer and Apple TV+
The reality star and presenter went on: "Since the day I left, I've never watched the show, but if you can't even pull in 50,000 viewers, I think, do you know what? Give the show the respect.
"It’s like having a dog in the corner of the kitchen that's dragging a broken leg, like you would be kind, and you’d take him to the vet and let him go to sleep.”
Norris credited TOWIE with launching many showbiz careers, though he suggested the ritzy Essex lifestyle depicted in the series may no longer resonate with viewers.
"There's probably been hundreds of people who've done the show over the however-many years it's been on… to go on and still have careers. Thankfully, I'm one of them, but they're few and far between. It broke barriers… It just kind of makes me a little bit sad. 48,000, oh gosh, it's less than an Instagram story," he added.
Digital Spy has reached out to ITV, with a spokesperson responding: "The Only Way Is Essex is one of our most successful reality franchises across ITVX, and the show's performance and popularity is evident in the 8.5 million streams the show has generated across the current series.
"To base the show's success on overnight figures, which account for less than a quarter of the show's total audience, is misleading."
The Only Way Is Essex airs on ITVBe and streams on ITVX.
Read more TOWIE news on our dedicated homepage
You Might Like...
Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
